


Her World

by Deense



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-20
Updated: 2011-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-27 14:43:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/296963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deense/pseuds/Deense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 1x11 Instinct. Ashley turns to Henry for a reminder of what matters, only this time it isn't the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaitlia777](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaitlia777/gifts).



The adrenaline was wearing off, Ashley could tell. She knew that Henry wasn't used to this and on their trip back from the warehouse she'd kept an eye on him. It was no big deal, her eyes flicked to the rear view mirror as she drove them to the Sanctuary -- home. The day hadn't been good to any of them, not with that stubborn-assed weather girl on their hands. Of course Henry hadn't seemed to mind her being there, but she'd gotten people killed and no amount of pretty made that okay in Ashley's book. She'd helped him with unloading, checked her weapons and logged the damage to some of the equipment she'd used. It didn't take her long; it was all part of her usual routine.

Routine. Maybe this routine needs changing, she thought, leaving her gear to go and check on Henry. Unsurprisingly he was in his lab looking over something on one of his seven screens. She crept up behind him, poking him and making him jump. His first reaction was to close down a webpage and Ashley was sure that it had been Channel 13’s.

So, looking up more details about Miss Meteorology, huh? Ashley didn't think she was that pretty, not that anyone was asking her. "Doing a bit of post-mission research?"

At least he had the grace to look sheepish, she thought. He shrugged and scrubbed at the back of his neck. "Just, you know, looking some stuff up. In case we need to contact anyone later." Henry replied.

"Of course. Just being thorough," her over-serious face said exactly what she thought of that. Ashley decided to change her tack, "What'd you think? Are we making a field agent outta you?"

"Dude, That was crazy intense. How do you do that every day?" He seemed relieved at her change of questioning, relief she was pretty sure would fade, even as she hopped up on the table next to his keyboard.

"That was nothing."

Her response was pretty standard, and so was his reaction. Her smile grew as he rolled his eyes, teasing exasperation in his words, "Uh-huh, here we go. The adventures of the great Ashley Magnus-"

"-Hey I like the sound of that. Can that be a thing? Though I'd go with amazing, or maybe awesome-"

"-the awesome and amazing Ashley Magnus! Bagging and tagging abnormals." he finished, not even realizing the way he was rolling the tension out of his shoulders or rubbing at his neck.

"Here," she wheeled his stool around, pushing his hand down and using hers in place to try and work out the knots. "Seriously, you have got to see someone about this. And it's not all like today. I'll let you in on a secret," Ashley paused, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "Sometimes it's boring. Watching people, waiting on them. You came in on crazy day."

The happy sound that escaped Henry made her grin, and for a brief second he reminded her of a happy puppy. Things she would never tell him volume 223, she thought as she continued to work out the tightness in his neck, "I think that somebody had a crush on the weather girl."  
Ashley added in a sing-song voice, Henry's wordless spluttering making her laugh. "Come on, could you have been any more obvious?"

"ME?" Henry responded, indignant and outraged, at least, as much as he could manage on a stool with her massaging his neck. It was cute, she thought, the way he opened and closed his mouth and gesticulated as if he could make the words come just by wanting them to. "What about you? Making dates? Dammit-" Henry seemed to realize too late what he'd said, "-I mean, I didn't mean it like that, that guy, he seemed nice-"  
Ashley couldn't let him keep going. It hadn't been their fault he'd died, but then again… That didn't mean she didn't feel some guilt for the death of a guy she barely knew and had minutes before been making plans with. "Henry," she shushed him, fingers digging hard into his shoulders, "It's okay. It's life and it sucks and it happens. They shouldn't have been there."

She paused for just a second, swearing to herself that it wouldn't happen again. Next time, and there would be a next time, she'd get the civilians out. When she spoke again, she hoped he didn't hear the shake in her voice, "Anyway, admit it, you were jealous."

Her worry was unfounded, if his stammering response was an indication of anything. "What? Me, no. I mean, maybe, I mean-"

He winced and Ashley had a hard time not smiling. Honestly it was a relief to tease him about it. To joke and not think of what had gone down that day. She could see the wheels turning as he tried to decide what he should answer and was happy when he seemed to give up. He turned on his stool to look up at her perched on the desk. "Ash-"

Whatever he was going to say, she didn't let him finish. Fingers curled tight in the collar of his shirt as she kissed him, tugging him off the stool and toward her. He was confused for a second, they always made this way more confusing than it needed to be, but she felt that confusion melt away. His mouth opened against hers, and his hands moved around her waist and up her back.

"Ash-" There was a moment where he tensed and started to say something again. Ashley could have killed him. Her legs wrapping around his waist seemed to shut him up, as did the tug of her teeth at his lip. A high sound escaped him and Ashley knew she'd won this round. She didn't have to tell him to shut it or that it would be okay this time. There'd be enough time for that later, but right now she just wanted him. She wanted him to want her and to remind her that she was still alive. That they'd hunted and come out scarred but okay.

The pull of his hands on her belt and the way that he yanked at her jeans said that he finally got it. He understood on some level why she came to him after nights like this one, even if it wasn't more than an instinctual thought. Because this was what she needed -- what they both needed -- the whipping off of clothes, the desire, the sweat on their skin even in the cool air of the lab. It grounded her, hell, he grounded her.

Not able to explain, silencing his objections the best way she knew how. She was helping him out of his clothes as fast as he was helping her. The crash of some piece of equipment barely caused him to start. Right there she knew just how different this was. It wasn't her going to him. They were on equal footing, in a way. For once he took the lead; foreplay left for another time as she pulled out the condom she’d brought along. She loved the way he tensed when she put in on him, but more than that, she loved how he lifted her up from the desk, using his strength to hold her, her legs tight around his waist.

“Oh God- Henry,” she usually didn’t let things like that escape, she was always the one to stay in control. Not so much this time. This time Ashley, the control freak, didn’t care. She liked the way he felt inside of her, the way his fingers tangled in his hair and the almost-growl that escaped him when he came. Exhausted, she slumped against him, relaxed for the first time all day, or so it seemed. Not just relaxed, content she thought as she pulled away to see an all-too obvious bite mark she’d left on his neck.

“Wow.” It was Henry who spoke first, not wanting to untangle from her, and seeming surprised that she hadn’t pulled her usual trick of slipping away immediately to grab her clothes and then vanish. “So that- Those times?”

“Yeah,” she looked up at him. Ashley would never say it to him in words but she knew that this routine of hers had changed, and that she didn’t particularly want it to change back. “Welcome to my world.”


End file.
